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The Hampton Roads area is located in the mid-Atlantic region at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk on the south side of Hampton Roads and Newport News, Hampton and Williamsburg on the Peninsula have made a strong effort during recent years to focus on regionalism to promote resources and services to businesses and industry throughout the area. The Norfolk metropolitan area was named the most livable large city in the South by Money magazine in its 1998 annual ranking of best places to live. Strong livability factors, such as a low crime rate and an impressive public school system, prompted the top ranking for our area. With a population approaching 1.6 million, Hampton Roads is the 27th largest metropolitan area in the United States and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Southeast. Its diversified economic base includes the maritime industry with a leading international seaport, manufacturers, the tourism and convention industry, the federal government, agriculture, U.S. military forces, construction and retail businesses. The area's corporate base includes national and multinational companies with over 100 foreign-owned companies and a growing number of high-tech firms. QUALITY OF LIFE The quality of life in Hampton Roads is exceptional. Housing and other essentials are affordable in Southeastern Virginia. Purchasing a home is well within reach of a new associate. Because the area is surrounded by water, almost everyone lives within a short drive of either the Atlantic Ocean or the Chesapeake Bay. Hampton Roads affords sports and recreational enthusiasts many opportunities to pursue a wide variety of activities. Water sports, including boating, swimming, surfing, sailing, waterskiing, fishing, ocean kayaking and windsurfing are popular. Hikers and nature lovers enjoy the state and national parks located in the area, including First Landing State Park, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and False Cape State Park. The cities of Hampton Roads offer a number of recreational facilities, including city parks and fully-staffed recreational centers with pools, gyms and organized activities. The area supports a symphony, an opera company, a pops orchestra and several stage companies. Each of these groups has achieved regional and national recognition. Also in downtown Norfolk, the 13,000-seat Harbor Park (recently designated by Baseball America as “the nation's best minor league ballpark”) is home to the Norfolk Tides, the city's AAA International League baseball team affiliated with the New York Mets. The Hampton Roads Admirals is the area's American Hockey League affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The new MacArthur Center (an upscale mall featuring Nordstrom and Dillard's) opened in downtown Norfolk in March of 1999. Hampton Roads offers two outdoor amphitheaters. The Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater and The NTELOS Pavilion at Harbor Center both bring national recording artists to the area. The Virginia Beach Sportsplex hosts the Hampton Roads Mariners, the area's A-League soccer team, and is the first stadium of its kind built primarily for soccer. Hampton Roads satisfies even the most avid museum-goer. The Chrysler Museum of Art has been rated one of the top twenty small museums in the country. The Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia , located in Virginia Beach, features regularly changing exhibitions from internationally acclaimed artists. The Virginia Air and Space Museum in Hampton is the official visitor center for NASA Langley Research Center. Norfolk is within a one-hour drive of Colonial Williamsburg, which, besides its many historical attractions, also includes a museum containing one of the nation's premier decorative art collections and the leading folk art museum in the country. Nauticus, the National Maritime Center, houses interactive displays that delight children and adults and is home to the battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin. The Children's Museum of Portsmouth recently opened a 30,000 square-foot expansion to include a total of 90 interactive exhibits for elementary school-aged children. Virginia Beach is home to the Virginia Marine Science Museum and the various military bases contain museums about military and nautical history. Norfolk and Virginia Beach are open cities, and the residents are genuinely warm, friendly and gracious. Hampton Roads is a place where strangers still speak to each other on the street. Because of the commercial and naval presence in the area, Norfolk has not suffered from the stagnation which may be characteristic of some other southern cities. The influx of new people employed by the Navy and by area businesses has created an area that balances dynamic growth with traditional southern charm and hospitality. |
